Acceleracers: Dual-Bladez
by Shadow of the Dragons
Summary: Girls with grudges and a serious need for speed. Join the Dual-Bladez as they race on land sea and air for the ultimate prize. Along the way new people will be found, old feuds brought to light, and perhaps a touch of love. What will happen? Read to find out! Disclaimer: I don't own Acceleracers!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: Character bios.**

**Well, Ashbringer 36 pointed out to me that this story didn't flow right, and seemed a little forced, so I'm totally revamping it. It's going to have a bit more of a relaxed pace to it now, and I hope that makes it an easier fic to read for you guys and girls out there. Thanks, Ashbringer 36 for helping me out on this one.**

**Anyway, you know the drill. I don't own, you don't sue. Happy reading!**

* * *

"This thing is on right? Oh, if the green light is on than it is? Okay, here we go."

"My name is Winter. Just Winter, no last name. I know, strange, right? Don't ask me why, I don't know. I'm guessing you want to know about me, right? Well, let's see. I'm a platinum blonde girl that I've dyed with silver and ice blue streaks. My eyes are an icy blue, and I have really pale skin; like vampire pale. I think it's cool. Usually I dress in blues, silvers, blacks, greys, and whites. I think they complement my eyes the best."

"I drive this wicked motorcycle I call Snow Storm. It's totally awesome, and modified so that its' totally illegal in any official race. I can't remember all the things I did to it, but I distinctly recall replacing the engine with a car engine I rebuilt. And not just any engine, an F1 engine. (Don't ask how I got my mitts on that, okay?) Oh, and it can turn into a snow speeder for racing in extreme conditions. That's cool, right?"

"Yeah, anyway, physically, I'm tall and lithe. I'm a gymnast who, despite my height, has won a great deal of championships. And I love competing. I can't do gymnastics anymore; but I can still race. That's my first love. Oh, yeah, and I'm Siberian. But I was born on Antarctica. (But that's another story.)"

"Well, I'm going to go work on my bike. So I'll just leave this funny looking thing here. Man, I just wish I could race with them again…"

* * *

"Hmm…should I or shouldn't I?"

"I think I will."

"My name is Axel Tezla. I'm a red headed ball of fire with blood red eyes. I'm not kidding, they even have black streaks and darker red flecks in them. My father said that some peoples' glares could kill; but mine incinerated them. I'm tall, and heavily muscled. Not like a body builder, but you can clearly see the triceps and the biceps and the latissimus dorsi's and all those other muscles. I was scrawny when I was a kid, and was picked on a lot. Heh, I'd love to see the looks on those bullies' faces now."

"I drive this wicked car that I imagined, designed, and built myself. It's called the Wind Streak; because it can fly. It's got hover jets built into the bottom of it, and retractable wings; so when I go over a ramp, I can turn it into a mini jet. As such, the body is sleek and compact, which improves the aero dynamics and slip stream of the car, allowing it to cut through the sky like it's nothing."

"I'm a child genius with an IQ of 400. Well, it's at least 400. The IQ tests I took all stopped calculating at 400. Can you believe it? Well, I shouldn't be surprised. There is that one uncle I have on Mom's side of the family. I lived with him for a while, but we had a falling out a few years back. So I left, and struck out on my own. I really don't want to talk about it, alright?"

"Hmm…sounds like someone is coming. I think I'll take my leave now if you don't mind."

* * *

"…So, I just talk and this thing will record it? Wicked!"

"My name is Ivy Gardener. Yeah, laugh all you want. My two older sisters are named Willow and Rose, and my brother is named Birch. Don't ask me why, my parents are weird. Let's see…I'm about an inch taller than the average height for girls my age. My hair is dark brown, my eyes are Ivy Green which is how I got my name, and my skin is a nice shade of light brown, like a mocha."

"I have a bit of a wild side to me. I climb rocks and mountains and trees free handed, which means with no gear. I also do other extreme sports, like slope style snowboarding and wake boarding. Yeah, I'm definitely the crazy one in my family. I guess it goes without saying that I also get a lot of injuries."

"So, anything else I should talk about? Oh yeah, my car! I drive this really cool Pontiac Firebird. I call Thorn Struck. Yeah, I know, not very imaginative. But I can deal with that. And it's got this awesome paint job on it of thorns and roses. It's so cool! I did it myself, so I'm quite proud of it. Also, I can transform it into a modified four wheeler in case of a rough mountain."

"Speaking of paint jobs, I need to go touch mine up a bit. I'll just leave this cool device here. maybe I'll talk more later…"

* * *

"Huh? What's this thing? Maybe I bought it somewhere to record my journal? Oh, well."

"I'm Ebony Rose. You may have heard of me. I was a race car driver. I was in F1 and the Grand Prix circuits before he caused me to crash. Who's he? Some driver named Kurt Wylde who thought he was king of the world. He was just some hotshot rookie. But anyway, he caused me to crash in a race. Car spun out and hit mine. T-boned me pretty good. My car was completely destroyed. As for me, well I was in a coma for six months. I now walk with a permanent limp and I am no longer eligible for formal racing competitions. That idiot stole my life from me. Next time I race him, he's gonna pay."

"If I ever see him again. I've avoided all racing events from then on. I went dark on all media. To the world, I vanished. Kurt denied that he was doing anything to injure me, but her sure didn't seem that upset about it when the judges deemed me unfit to race for the rest of my life."

"I've got to stop thinking about that right now; otherwise I'll just get stressed out. Let's see…how about I talk about me? I'm Japanese, Chinese, and Korean with a touch of Mongolian in there. I have pitch black hair with natural midnight blue highlights in them. And my eyes are a dark gray."

"I rebuilt my car. I call it Night Fall. It's got a really cool techno night design that's too awesome for words. It still goes as fast as my old car, but this one is far superior. It's funny; I wouldn't have rebuilt it if I hadn't crashed. I don't have to worry about sticking to regulations now. That's cool, I guess. He won't be winning the next time I race him. I can change Night Fall into a tunneler. Basically, that means that it has the means to dig a tunnel under ground. Pretty sweet, if I do say so myself."

"Looks like I need to go do my exercises. I'll record more later."

* * *

"I am Lux. Yeah, Lux. It means light, okay? Don't ask me why I was named Lux, okay?"

"I match your stereotypical California beach bunny. My hair is a golden blonde and I have ocean blue eyes; as well as a nice tan. I'm small, barely clearing 5 feet 2 inches. Yeah, some people call me shrimp. Those same people are not going to appreciate doing that when I totally own them in the next surfing competition.

I hate being underestimated by others. They think that I'm just a stereotypical blonde girl, and I hate it. Why should the color of my hair determine my brains? It's so unfair. I'm just as smart as those brunettes and red heads; but no, because I'm blonde, that automatically means I'm dumb. That's really really crazy, you know?

I drive a motorcycle that I call Light Fall. It's got a very futuristic design; lots of jagged edges and straight lines. It's so cool to look at, especially in motion. And I'm trying to figure out how to rig retractable wings to it. So far that's been a no go, but it can still change into a hover bike for me to use, which is really helpful on bumpy back roads. Yeah, it's a pretty good bike if I do say so myself.

"I've gotta go do a tune up. I wonder how the others are doing…"

* * *

"My name is Talia Sycamore. Yes, the monster truck driver. I think it's cool, being one of the few girls in a mostly male dominated sport. I love driving my truck, which I affectionately call Bad Boy. But I'm not competing this year, because of a compound leg fracture. I'm all healed up but I can't compete until next July. That's a whole twelve months from now. So although I do practice with Bad Boy occasionally, it's mostly gathering dust."

"For my looks, I have pretty hazel eyes. This compliments my nut brown hair. I'm a very plain girl, dressing simply. I guess my most defining factor is my delicate bone structure; including my high and semi-prominent cheek bones."

"Can you keep a secret? I love both fire and water. I can't decide which I like better. Which is why my car combines my love of both. It's blue with a flame paint job on it. I call it the Sea Flame. It can drive on land, but also can transform into a jet ski like craft for a different path. It's super helpful. Axel helped me design it, but I built it myself."

"Speaking of Axel, I wonder how she and the rest of the girls are doing…"

* * *

**Next chapter will start the fic!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! This chapter consists of the Dual-Bladez forming and Axel getting a mysterious invitation to a race!**

**I never responded to the two reviewers who wrote a review for this fic, so I'll answer them here.**

**Dan, I would love to tell you why the team is called Dual-Bladez, but I don't want to spoil it. Fear not, however, I put it in one of the first few chapters, so you'll have your answer soon enough. And yes, I know some of my OC's can be a little knife happy as you so kindly put it, but I've wanted to learn how to use throwing knives, and my parents won't let me. (I can't imagine why, by the way.) So I slip it into my fics instead. Plus, a lot of OC's are girls, their going to need a little help taking down drones.**

**Elias: Yeah, Ebony going out with Kurt would be interesting. But sadly, I already have a boyfriend in mind for her. And poor Kurt's got enough mental trauma going on with two people mad at him. And yeah, half of this stories fun is how the sub plots play out and the characters interact with each other!**

**Anyway, I don't own, you don't sue! Deal? Okay then, on with the fic!**

* * *

(Three years ago...)

A girl walked into The Junkyard, an illegal/legal parts shop and members only club. One of the waitresses looked up as the girl walked in. she smiled and showed her to a table.

"The usual?" She asked. The nodded and the waitress walked away, a smile on her face. She was going to get a good tip tonight. Soon she had brought a cup of strong black coffee over, and a croissant. Yes it was late at night; 11:15 to be exact. But this late at night, this was all the girl ordered. The waitress beamed happily when her customer gave her a pair of twenties and told her to keep the change.

"Well, I'll just letcha enjoy your food." The server said. She turned to walk away.

"Fine." The girl replied, absentmindedly stirring her coffee. "If anyone needs me, you know where to find me."

"Yes ma'am." The waitress replied. She turned and walked away, mentally calculating how much money she just got from the tip.

The girl, a red head of about 22, continued stirring her drink before taking a sip. It was very black and extremely bitter; just the way she liked it. Yep; if there was one good thing about The Junkyard besides all the car parts and the racers, it was the food.

As she began working on her croissant, she opened up a letter, the reason why she was there.

Dear Ms. Tezla.

It has come to our attention that you are an extremely good driver. I would like you to race in my tournament. However, you will not be alone.

Come to The Junkyard on June 1st, 2000. Wait there in the dining room. At 12:00, you can open package you received with this letter.

I wish you the best of luck.

That was what is had said. No name was signed on it, just a blank anonymous letter. It was more than a little creepy. Why was the letter so vague, and unsigned? What was really happening with this race?

* * *

A girl drove up to The Junkyard before parking her gold bike. Looking up at the sign, she frowned before checking a letter.

"Well, looks like this is the place." She said aloud before climbing off the vehicle and walking into the club. Inside, the biker bumped into another girl.

"Sorry," she said as she shifted her weight off her left leg.

"Hey, you're Ebony Rose, right?" the biker asked. "That pro racer?"

"Yeah," Ebony replied, "Although my days as a pro racer are long gone. Who are you?"

"The name's Lux." The biker replied. "I came here because of letter."

"You two received one as well?" both girls looked up to see a platinum blonde with wildly streaked hair walk towards them, an envelope in hand.

"Yeah," Lux said as Ebony nodded, each girl displaying their own envelope.

"So I'm not the only one…" the trio turned to see a girl with green eyes behind them.

"I'm Ivy Gardner." She said.

"Oh, and I'm Winter." The blonde said. "So what's up with the letters?"

"Letters? You're not talking about unsigned letters, right?" Yet another girl wormed her way into the group, also holding an envelope. "I'm Talia. You weren't talking about this letter, right?"

All five girls compared letters. Except for the girl it was made out to, they were identical in wording.

"Can I help you?" all the girls jumped and turned around to see a waitress standing there. According to her name tag, the girl was named Reeba.

"Yeah," Ivy said. "We're looking for a person named Axla? You know him?"

"Axla…" Reeba thought for a minute before her face lit up. "Oh, you mean Axel?"

"Yeah, that's the person we're looking for." Ebony replied. "So, do you know where he is?"

"She's actually a girl." Reeba said with a laugh. "She's right over there." The others looked in the direction Reeba was pointing in. in a booth was a solitary girl with blood red hair that had black streaks in it. Or was it black hair with blood red streaks in it? Oh, who cared? The group thanked her and walked over, sitting down in the circular booth.

Axel paid them no mind, just continued stirring her coffee with one hand while supporting her face with the other. Her eyes were closed.

"Are you Axel?" Winter asked. Axel didn't open her eyes, instead taking a drink out of her coffee cup. Then she carefully replaced her cup on the table.

"I've been called that." She said, before opening her eyes. And the others gasped.

They were a brilliant crimson, red as fresh blood. Irregular black streaks ran through her iris, which was also flecked with a darker red color. The streaks were connected to her pupils so that the blackness seemed to be leeching out of the center of her eyes. They were piercing, and that was with an emotionless face.

She studied them for a moment before sighing. "I take it you got one of those letters too?" she asked. Wordlessly, the others nodded, except for Talia who blurted out "You got a letter too?"

Axel snorted and tossed three things on the table. One was an envelope and a letter, addressed to a Ms. Tezla. The other thing was a package, also addressed to a Ms. Tezla.

"This showed up on my doorstep a few days ago. No signature, just a note telling me to come here today, and not to open the package until midnight. Speaking of which, looks like it's 12:00. So I think I'm just gonna open this." And with that, she pulled out a throwing knife and slit the top open. Inside were a few pieces of paper and another letter. This letter was taken out and read aloud.

"Dear Ms. Tezla and Co. Because of your extraordinary abilities and racing talents, you have been chosen to form a racing team and compete in the grandest race of all. You can come up with the team name, and will submit the completed registration forms to this address. Good luck."

Axel scowled. "This has my uncle written all over it." She muttered unhappily.

"Who's your uncle?" Winter asked.

"Peter Tezla." Axel replied tersely.

"Isn't that the multimillionaire who founded the Scrim Corporation and is its president right now?" Lux wondered.

"Yep. He and I don't get along." The redhead muttered shortly, making it clear that there was some bad blood between the two of them.

"So, are we racing as a team, or what?" Ivy queried.

Axel frowned, mulling it over, before smirking.

"Yeah." She said, looking up at her new teammates. "Yeah, we're racing." She stood up. "Let's go. I have a feeling we have a lot to plan out."

* * *

(Present day…)

Axel sighed, recalling that day three years ago. She had been so disappointed in not being able to race in Highway 35, and so mad at her Uncle. But that man was in her past now. She hadn't seen head nor hair of him in years.

On the other hand, this new letter was proving to be interesting. Lying back on her bed, she pulled the holographic imaging device out of her pocket. She was familiar with how to run it. After all, she was the one who had made the prototype. Pressing the play button, she watched as a yellow hologram flickered into existence.

"Greetings, Axel, esteemed leader of the Dual-Bladez." The holographic man said. Axel snorted.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Uncle." She murmured with distaste. Yep, the man was her uncle, Dr. Peter Tezla. Multimillionaire founder and president of the Scrim Corporation. The man who had stolen her ideas from her and took all the credit for himself. The man who refused to let her race. Now he was creeping into her life again. Sighing, Axel refocused her attention on the hologram, which had automatically stopped when she began to speak. Yet another idea that she had had.

"I need you to come and race for me. This race is important, the biggest race in the history of mankind. And the prize is greater than you can imagine. If you believe that you are up for the challenge, then come to these GPS coordinates." The numbers flashed onto the screen.

Axel sighed. She was doing that a lot, she noted. But it just seemed the natural thing to do. The redhead – yes, it was blood red hair with black streaks, not the other way around – assumed that the rest of the Dual-Bladez had received the same message. It had been several months since they had all been together. It would be good, she decided, to go to this race to see them again. Not because her Uncle was asking her. Nope, she would never do anything for her uncle. Not after the way he treated her.

Her slime ball of an Uncle, how she hated him, used to be her legal guardian. Her brilliance had been apparent at a young age, and she was sent to live with her uncle, who was also smart. He had been responsible for her education. She had graduated from high school at the age of six and a half, college at ten. She then worked with her uncle, perfecting some of the prototypes.

She had been the one to discover Highway 35, after accidently entering it while trying out the nitrox. He had tried to send in cars powered by artificial intelligence, but they had failed. Then Gig had suggested recruiting human drivers. Axel had eagerly volunteered to go, but her uncle decided to recruit 35 other drivers over her. That hadn't sat well, and a long story short, Axel had struck out on her own. That had been three years ago.

A lot of things had happened since then, most importantly forming the Dual-Bladez and leading them to victory. They had had a lot of success. Then things happened, and the team split up, returning to their own homes. They were still a team. Yet they had other lives as well, and those were just as important. So they were really only active for half the year. The other half was spent pursuing other things.

All of this was interesting, yet it wasn't helping her decide whether or not she was going to go. She hated her uncle with a passion, yet at the same time, she couldn't help but be mildly curious. Her uncle never asked for help, never, unless it was absolutely necessary. And she had covered her tracks pretty well. So if he had gone to the trouble to track her down, then he must be desperate.

Axel sighed. Was there any point in debating, when her mind was already made up? No, she reflected, there wasn't. And with that, she pulled out a backpack. The first thing she would pack was her clothes…

* * *

**Done! Next chapter coming soon! Don't forget to leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter two commences! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything official from Acceleracers! Don't sue me, I make no money off these things!**

* * *

Then one of the cars spun out, an uncontrolled crash. It slammed into a few of the other cars before the front end became embedded in the driver's side of one of the other cars. It was T-boned, and the driver had taken the full force of the other car's momentum.

* * *

Ebony bolted upright in bed, trying to calm her racing heart. She always had nightmares about the crash around this time of year. Looking over to the clock, she saw it was 6 in the morning. She might as well get up now. Her mind made up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her left one was in a metal brace. The girl bent over and began freeing her limb from the metal support. It only took a few minutes before a dull thump signified the metal hitting the carpeted floor.

The girl picked up the metal and placed it on the bed before walking out of her small bedroom and into the hall, limping. There was nothing she could do about the limp. It was a permanent reminder of the day she was utterly broken.

Ebony was once a professional racer, driving in both F1 and World Grand Prix races, as well as participating in drag racing. She had been good, good enough to win a lot of races. Her name had become well known among racing circles. And then the crash happened.

A rookie racer named Kurt Wylde had crashed into her, T-boning her car with his. She had been knocked out instantly, and her bones were shattered, especially her left leg and hip, which took the brunt of the crash. She was in a coma for six months, required eleven major surgeries, and she died twice on the way to the hospital. Not exactly a good time.

When she woke up, the first thing she heard was that the doctor had declared her unfit to race. This was the worst thing she could ever hear. Racing was her life, and now she wasn't going anywhere fast. It had been the worst day of her entire life.

She had only made one public appearance since then, just to answer a few questions and announce her retirement from racing due to medical issues. And then she disappeared.

Not in the literal sense of disappearing, but in a more metaphorical way. She had stopped going on her various social media pages, and changed phone numbers to avoid paparazzi. They had never figured out where she had lived before, so that wasn't a problem.

Slowly but surely Ebony Rose began to disappear. Currently only her fellow Dual-Bladez knew who she was. But they wouldn't tell anyone anytime soon.

Which made the letter she had received the previous day even more interesting. It was addressed to her, with her full name, and made references to her racing past. How did this Tezla guy track her down? Briefly, she had considered going, but decided to call her leader first. So the girl pulled out her cell and dialed one of the numbers.

"Hello?" a girl asked on the other end.

"Axel? It's me, Ebony." She said.

"Rose? What's up?"

"I have a question for you." Quickly, she outlined the letter and the contents. "What do you think?"

"Personally, I can't stand my uncle, but a race is a race." Axel muttered. "'I'm going. So, will I see you there?"

"Definitely." Ebony said, a small smile creeping across her face. "See you in a few days, Axel."

"Later, Ebony." And with that, the connection was cut. Ebony shook her head before limping back into her apartment. She would have to pack.

* * *

Across the country, four other girls opened up similar letters, each one promising a race beyond their wildest imagination. Calls were made, decisions were formed, and bags were packed. Soon the race would begin, and as three of the girls started to set off for the coordinates given to them, one thing was on their minds.

They would win. When it came to racing, they had the advantage. So they would win. No matter the competition, no matter the tracks, no matter the limitations or hazards, they would triumph. The other drivers better watch their backs, because they were coming for them.

Let the games begin.

* * *

The door to the control room opened up, and the redhead walked in.

"Hello, Uncle." Axel said flatly.

"Axel. How nice to see you again." Tezla responded. "You seem to be doing well."

"Save it, Uncle." She replied. "Flattery will get you nowhere. I'm not here because you're my uncle. I'm here because of the race, and that's the only reason why. So scrap all the planned remarks you have, because I still hate you, and I want nothing to do with you. I'm not your niece anymore."

And with that, Axel stormed out of the room. Tezla sighed and shook his head. He had only himself to blame for her anger, and knew that she was completely justified in her rage. He had been hoping that she was willing to let bygones be bygones, but apparently he had underestimated her capacity to hold a grudge.

* * *

Nolo was as bored as heck. He wanted to race, not sit around and wait for that Maniac to show up. It was supposed to be a simple race in the middle of the night. Monkey had shown up already, and was trying to get his portable starting light to work. Other than the jumpy mechanic, the Hispanic was completely alone.

"What's taking Tork so long?" He muttered in agitation. Monkey gulped, knowing full well that an agitated Nolo was not a good person to be around. It most likely meant that he would end up picking a fight with Tork when finally arrived.

The sound of a vehicle filled the still air, and then a black car pulled around the corner, before parking in the lot away from the vehicle.

"Of all the times for me to get a flat tire." The driver muttered as she limped over to examine the front end, where a flattened tire was clearly visible. She sighed and began rummaging around in the trunk of the car for a spare.

"Who're you?" Nolo asked.

"Huh?" She said as she looked back at them. "Call me Ebony."

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Monkey wondered.

"I'm heading for a race." Ebony replied as she pulled out a spare tire and began changing the flattened one. Her nimble fingers quickly fixed the mistake and she placed the bad tire in the back end before shutting the hatch. "What're you two doing out here?"

"Waiting for a race." Nolo replied. "The other driver hasn't showed up yet."

"You have a history with him, don't you?" Ebony asked, noting the distaste in his voice.

"How'd you know?" Monkey asked, while Nolo scowled in annoyance.

"I'm pretty experienced when it comes to races, and the rivalry between racers." She replied cryptically. Something happened between you and this other dude, right?"

The Latino looked down, recalling the crash that had taken his older brother's life. Not the best memory he had.

"Ah, I see." Ebony realized. "A crash, huh?"

"You reading my mind or something?" Nolo asked suspiciously.

"I can tell because of the way your acting." Ebony replied evenly. "My best guess is that someone you cared about either got hurt or died in a crash, right?"

"Yeah, his older brother…" Monkey trailed off as Nolo shot him a glare.

"I'm no stranger to crashes myself." She said, a touch of sadness filling a voice. "A pretty nasty one took my life." Her hand drifted up to her cheek to rest on a pale scar barely visible in the night.

"Y-you mean that y-you're dead?" Monkey asked weakly.

"That's for you to determine." She said before climbing into her car and driving away. It seemed that her car vanished before she went around the bend, but that couldn't have possibly happened…could it? Chillingly they recalled how they she had said that she had lost her life in a crash. Was it possible they had seen a ghost?

* * *

**Ooh, spooky! Nolo and Monkey saw a ghost! Just kidding, she's still alive. Writing about a dead character doesn't make a good fanfic when I am the author, I'm afraid.**

**Anyway, don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Let's see chapter four. Man, I am so glad the internet in my house is finally working again!**

******Disclaimer: I don't own anything official from Acceleracers! Don't sue me, I make no money off these things!**

* * *

Tork was driving along the road, everything calm. He had plenty of time to make it to the race and still be able to beat that Teku easily.

That was when a flash of golden yellow caught his attention. Without thinking, he hit the brakes and came to a screeching halt. For a moment he debated on whether or not to keep on driving, but finally he got out of the car. It wouldn't take him that much time to check it out. The tall African American started walking towards the spot where he had seen the yellow flash of color.

In a ditch, a human being was pinned underneath a motorcycle. Tork paled and started untangling the person – who he could now see was a girl – from the metal vehicle. Curiously, despite the fact that the bike appeared to be ultra-durable and that it was quite large, it barely weighed anything, and Tork was easily able to lift it off the girl.

As he was moving the bike, she shifted slightly and groaned before opening her eyes.

"Well, that was interesting." She muttered before pushing off the ground. She flipped in midair and landed on her feet before looking at Tork. "I assume you're the person who helped me?"

"Yeah, I am." Tork replied. "My name's Tork. Who're you?"

"Lux." She replied. "What're you doing way out here in the middle of the night."

"Going to a race. What're you doing way out here?"

"I'm heading for a race as well." Lux replied, climbing back on her bike. "Looks like we're heading in the same direction. Want to travel together for a while?"

"Why not?" Tork replied. It wouldn't be that bad having a companion for a while. He got back into Hollowback and the pair zoomed off down the road.

* * *

The drivers eventually pulled into a small parking lot where two other cars were parked.

"What took you so long?" Nolo snapped. Monkey flinched, while Tork sighed.

"I crashed on the way to a race and he stopped to help me." Lux said unflinchingly as she gazed at the irate Latino. "I think that's a pretty good reason to be late." Nolo looked down, but quit complaining.

"What is it with lots of girls driving around in the middle of the night trying to get to a race?" Monkey asked.

Lux stiffened. "What do you mean girls driving around in the middle of the night trying to get to a race?" She demanded.

"Another girl came around earlier." Monkey said. "She had a flat tire."

"Yeah, she said her name was Ebony." Nolo muttered. The name didn't mean anything to any of the Tork, but Lux stiffened.

"You mean she's ahead of me already!?" Lux yelled. "She didn't even have the decency to wait! When I catch up to her I'll show her a thing or two!" With that, the girl zoomed away down the road, leaving the three boys to choke on her dust.

"So, we gonna race, or not?" Nolo demanded. Tork rolled his eyes.

"Well, if you're that eager to lose, then yeah, I guess we'll race." He replied. Nolo scowled angrily before storming over to his car and climbing in.

"You do know he's in a bad mood, right?" Monkey asked. "Poking a hornet's nest only brings trouble."

"Maybe so, Monkey." Tork replied evenly. "Maybe so."

* * *

Ebony was driving through the desert when a golden flash caught her attention. And then the irate voice of her friend filled her car.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Lux demanded.

"I thought you weren't going to leave until tomorrow." Ebony replied evenly. "What happened to you?"

"I crashed." She replied. "Hurt a lot, too. Good thing I had my helmet on."

"A pity you didn't have any sense knocked into you." Ebony muttered, followed by an indignant "Hey" from Lux. "No matter, though. We have a race to get too. Let's go."

"Yeah." She said. "Axel's probably waiting for us right now." The Californian grinned. "Last one there's a slowpoke!" And with that, she zoomed away. Ebony shook her head, and grinned. She had no problems with racing Lux.

Well, as long as she won, that is.

* * *

Nolo scowled as he drove home. He had lost against Tork; he almost won, but he hadn't been able to pull out a win. He hated it when he lost – all of the Teku did, but it was always bad when they lost against the Metal Maniacs; especially when they lost to Tork.

Dimly he could recall that Tone and Tork used to be friends. He could remember coming in the door after walking home from school to see both of them working on homework at the kitchen table. He could remember the two of them hanging out all the time. He could remember them going to each other's sports games, Tone attending the football games, and Tork going to the soccer matches.

Then something happened, and the two fell out. They stopped speaking to each other, stopped hanging out, stopped going over to each other's houses to work on homework. But Nolo could remember that Tone still went to the football games, and that several times he had seen Tork at the soccer games still, even after the fight. Maybe they were still hoping they could salvage something.

Nothing was made of it, though. Tone dropped out of high school after their father died to help bring in money from racing, while their mother started working double shifts at the factory she worked at. Nolo had dropped out of school as well, since a six year old kid couldn't come home to an empty house. Tone took him along to all the races, where he had received a more…varied education again. Sure, Tone had taught him how to read and to write and how to do math; along with a little science (Which was discontinued after he had accidently blown up something by dropping a bunch of pure potassium in pure water) and history (varied, not usually following textbooks). But there was also the other parts, such as driving lessons, mechanics, and other stuff necessary to race on the streets.

That was when they had encountered Tork again. He had managed to graduate from high school, but never went to college. Leader of the Metal Maniacs. Tone had instantly become his rival. And with that, any hope of the two becoming friends again vanished.

Nolo sighed as he finally pulled into the house he lived in. It was small, a two story house with the basic necessities. It comprised of a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms. The washing machine and the drier were in the hallway. It wasn't much, but it was home.

As the Latino unlocked the door – mom was at work again, so he wouldn't have seen her anyway – his cell rang.

"Hello?" He asked as he walked into the house and pulled his shoes off.

"Nolo? It's Karma." The feminine voice said on the other hand. "I was just calling to see how you're doing." It had become an almost daily ritual for the only female on the Teku team to call him every night, having started the night Tone crashed.

"I lost the race." He muttered, still mad at himself.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Karma replied. "You'll get him next time, alright?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Nolo said softly, sounding unconvinced. "Later, Karma."

"See you tomorrow, Nolo." A soft click signified that Karma had hung up. Nolo shook his head, and glanced at the clock. 2 in the morning. No wonder he was so tired. And as this thought registered, so did the fact that getting a few hours of sleep wouldn't hurt too much. The boy slipped up the stairs and into his room, where he closed the door behind him.

* * *

**Finished with another! So, what do you think? A million times better than the old Dual-Bladez was, right?**

**Let me know what you think with a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! Chapter five here for a jive! If only I knew what a jive meant...**

******Disclaimer: I don't own anything official from Acceleracers! Don't sue me, I make no money off these things!**

* * *

Neither driver flinched, however. They were expecting this to happen, and had accelerated for that very same reason. They knew what lay behind the rock wall, even as their vehicles phased through it. This was going to be epic.

They came in for a landing and surveyed their new home. It was large, and filled to the brim with high-tech car equipment. Large open places were obviously waiting for cars to be parked there, and a large orange track led to a jump to nowhere. In the center of the room was a large orange ring shaped hologram. A catwalk surrounded the entire compound, and a tall tower seemed to serve as a control center.

"Wow, this place is way past cool." Lux murmured in shock, while Ebony got out of her car. Both the drivers stowed their helmets in their vehicles and started walking into the compound.

"Ebony, Lux." The pair looked up to see their leader standing on the cat walk. Axel flipped over the railing and landed lightly on her feet, before walking over to join her friends. "It's good to see you again."

"It's nice to see you again, too." Lux said while Ebony nodded curtly. The ex-grand prix and F1racer was never one for words, instead preferring to let her driving to do the talking. The trio headed into the depths of the compound.

"So, have you seen your uncle yet?" Ebony wondered.

Axel scowled. "Yes, I have, and if he's smart, he'll hope that it's the only time he sees me."

"Oh, didn't go so well, did it?" Lux muttered redundantly.

"Where are Winter, Ivy, and Talia?" Ebony asked over her teammate. "It's not like them to not come for a race."

"They called a few hours before you showed up." Axel replied. "Said they had run into some trouble and wouldn't be here for a few days. These two will be your rooms." On the doors were two things – their names and the familiar twin double edged swords superimposed on three slashes. Each one was colored a different hue: blue and patterned to look like waves to represent the oceans, brown and appearing to be encrusted with pebbles to represent the earth, and green with a wind motif to represent wind. The whole thing represented the team's style: Racing on land, sea, and air; a style that could help them or harm them, thus the double edged blades.

Inside was a very basic room – a bed, a dresser and a mirror, a small desk. But it appeared to be clean, and that was the important thing. None of the girls were picky when it came to rooms. As long as it was clean and livable, then it was fine. They were more concerned about races.

* * *

Nolo was woken up very rudely by the beeping of his alarm clock. He rolled over in his sleep and slammed a hand down on the snooze button, a technique he had perfected in the years he had spent as a teenager, hoping that he would be able to get away with a little extra sleep.

Then the phone rang.

The Latino groaned and picked up the cell, blearily opening one eye up to look at the number, before groaning again and answering.

"Mornin." He muttered, following up with a yawn.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Karma replied. "I do hope you're getting up." A slight pause in the conversation, and then she added. "You are getting up, aren't you?"

Nolo rolled his eyes, but got out of his comfortable bed. "Yes, I'm up." He said. "And I still say that you're a mother hen."

"Whatever, Nolo. I'll see you and the others soon." Again the soft click as Karma hung up. Nolo sighed, knowing that his hopes of getting some extra sleep were gone. That was a complete bummer for the 19 year old. Karma knew him way to well. He blamed the whole Tone and Karma dating thing for this.

Yeah, Karma had been dating his older brother. She had caught his eye at one of the clubs, right after he had accidently scraped her paint job with his car. She hadn't been too happy about that, and had made sure the two of them had known how mad she was. Nolo had never seen a girl threaten his older brother, let alone punch him in the face.

* * *

(Flashback)

The girl was pretty ticked. Nolo had never seen anyone try to pick a fight with his older brother before. Then again, the boy had only been alive for 7 years. That wasn't a long time, and he hadn't seen everything.

"Why did you scratch my paint?" She demanded.

"Look, I already said I didn't see the car." Tone replied, a small grin on his face. This obviously was the wrong thing to say, because the next thing Nolo knew the girl had drew back a fist and punched his brother in the face. Tone took a step back and shook her head, as if trying to process what had happened.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again." She snapped before getting into her car and sped off, barely missing him where he was hiding in the shadows. He ran out from his hiding place and darted over to his brother's side.

"Tone!" He cried. "Are you alright?"

Tone shook his head and stared after the girl, a goofy grin on his face. "Nolo." he said. "I do believe I'm in love."

"I think that girl knocked all the common sense outta your head!" Nolo replied, staring at his older brother incredulously. He couldn't believe his brother had just gotten punched, and now he thought he was in love with the same girl who had just punched him.

Tone took one look at his little brothers face, and laughed, before going back to staring off in the direction the girl had gone.

(End Flashback)

* * *

Nolo shook his head, recalling the first time either of them had seen Karma. She had been so mad at his brother, it was almost funny. He had thought that his brother had been joking about being love, but he had noticed that Tone often went back to that club, and often struck up conversations with Karma. Well, at least he had tried to. Karma hadn't been to happy to see him.

People had gossiped about them, but Tone had laughed them all off. Let them talk, he had said. I don't care what they say.

Nolo had thought that Tone had gone a little crazy, seeing that Karma had refused to talk to them. It was only when Tone had parked Synkro directly behind Chicane and refused to move it did she finally acknowledge them. And she made it clear that she wasn't too happy.

But, slowly and surely, she began to warm up to the two of them, and soon they were a team, the Teku. It was just him, Tone, and Karma against the world, and they did pretty well, for a rookie team.

They had met Shirako in a club where he was in charge of the music blasting from the speakers. He had been walking out from his work when he noticed Nolo trying to fix the engine on Synkro. One minute the eleven year old had been trying to get the parts to hook together, the next thing he knew another set of hands had fitted the parts together. He had turned around to see a skinny Asian boy no older than himself standing behind him, a self-satisfied grin on his face and a pair of headphones on his ears that did little to drown out the noise coming from them.

The boy had grinned when he noticed his help had been recognized before slipping away into the night. Nolo could only watch him go, the same shocked look on his face. In fact, it had still been there when Tone had come for him. He had noticed the look on his brother's face, and wanted to know what was up.

Nolo had told him all about the boy, and Tone recognized Shirako from his description. Then they had gone home, and Nolo had figured that that was the end of it. But it wasn't, and soon Shirako was a member of the team as well.

Kurt had joined soon after, another person they had found in the clubs, and then Vert had come after a recommendation from Kurt. Then Tone had died, and he became leader, and not much had changed ever since that day almost three years ago.

Shaking his head, the Latino focused on the present. Reminiscing on the past would get him nowhere fast, or get him to the meeting place with the other Teku on time.

And Nolo did not like to be late.

* * *

**Yeah, I know it's a little Teku-centric in this chapter, but don't worry all you Maniacs out there! The next chapter focuses more on Tork and the Metal Maniacs. And the ball's finally going to get rolling very, very soon!**

**Leave a review for me to let me know what you think!**


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